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Velvalee Dickinson was Japanese spy in the United States during World War II. She was known as the 'Doll Woman' because she used her dolls business as an analogical code. Such a message was 'Doll in a hula skirt is in the hospital and doctors are working around the clock' which translates as 'Destroyer USN Honolulu is badly damaged and in Seattle undergoing around the clock repairs.'
She was finally caught when one of her contacts in Brazil moved and her messages were returned.
See also steganography.
External link: FBI History - Famous Cases - Velvalee Dickinson, Doll Woman (http://fbi.edgesuite.net/libref/historic/famcases/dickinson/dickinson.htm)
Ms. Velvalee Dickinsin [that's how she spelt it on her own letterhead, as shown below] was mentioned on an Antiques Roadshow episode airing on WGTV, channel 8, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, on from 8:00 to 9:00 PM on January 3rd, 2005.
The doll was wearing a blue dress. It was a "Jumeau". The appraiser for AR mistakenly identified Ms. Dickinsin as a Nazi spy. Apparently, as David Kahn explains on page 520 of _The CodeBreakers_, Ms. Dickinsin was a spy during WWII and worked out of her exclusive Madison Ave. doll shop in New York, New York, USA. The doll was accompanied by a letter, on Dickinsin's letterhead.
David Kahn explains that Dickinsin was, in fact, a spy for the Japanese, and goes into detail about what kind of codes she used, and how she was caught [she used the return address of a woman "with whom she had had a spat"]. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined $10,000.00; she could easily have faced the death penalty.
The method of passing codes was via letters concerning, ostensibly, dolls. It's quite possible that the letter accompanying this doll represents an instance of "jargon code" passed among Dickinsin and her fellow spies. I imagine that, if this proves to be true, the letter may not only further enhance the value of the doll but also prove to be a valuable artifact in its own right, being, as it may well be, a surviving example of World War II espionage materiel. The doll, its dress, or something else about its presentation might have played a part in the meaning of the code, but it's more likely that the letter itself is an example of code.
The book I mention is David Kahn's _The CodeBreakers_, revised edition, ISBN 0-684-83130-9. See page 520 or refer to "Dickinson" [sic] in the index.
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